addicts and alchoholics deserve compassion and respect no matter where they are on their journey. it is baffling to me that people who are not experiencing addiction find it appropriate to dehumanize or make jokes about people who are forced to self medicate by a world that has failed to hold and care for them properly
the only bad part about going to the zoo is hearing adult men confidently tell their kids or gfs objectively incorrect information about the animals we’re looking at and having to remain silent. do u know the restraint it takes to say nothing when a grown adult man tells someone “falcons are in the same family as eagles” next to me? no babygirl. no.
fyi falcons are not closely related to other birds of prey (hawks/eagles/buzzards). falcons are actually parrots that minmaxed for a glass cannon dps build.
From my experience what these people actually want is confirmation that their experiences were normal and correct and that it’s the world that has gone wrong. That’s why confronting them with the fact that actually how they were treated was literally abuse makes them so upset, they don’t want to acknowledge that they were (and often still are) victims of people and systems outside their control. They were raised with the mindset that to admit something hurt you was a weakness. They were raised to believe that suffering through hardship silently is a sign of good character and strength. They want to be praised for being so strong, not sympathised with for being so hurt, they just don’t know what to do with that massive shift in perspective
[ID: an image of the sky on a sunny day divided into 4 parts. they are divided around the blinding sun. the sky is a very light blue, the clouds iridescent and bright white. /end ID]
I came to a realization recently that I still struggle to properly articulate but: online leftists who have extremely socialist progressive politics but still think its okay to partake in like doxxing and harassment and other toxic practices are eerily similar to conservative Christians who piously go to church every Sunday but still verbally abuse service workers and leave 50 cent tips
Its that same. I guess. Cognitive dissonance between beliefs and actual behavior. That idea that you are a good person because you believe the correct things which conveniently absolves you of having to be conscious of your own behavior and how you treat people. Its okay that you called your Olive Garden waitress a dumb bitch because she brought you bleu cheese instead of ranch with your salad because you can just pray your sins away to Jesus and still get into heaven. Its okay that you told someone who you didnt like on Tumblr to kill themselves because you have “trans rights are human rights” and ACAB in your bio. Its that same kind of Performance of being a Good Person TM while still deciding its okay to treat the people you consider to be “beneath you” like garbage.
Your beliefs are simply step one in determining your personal character, frankly one of the easier steps. The next and more important step is *how* you, personally, treat the people around you. And frankly, you could have the most progressive politics known to mankind but if you still act like a middle school bully at the most minor percieved infraction then you are not a good person. Full stop.
